Getting Divorced

In "People Getting Divorced" Lawrence Ferlingehtti uses the Analogy to connect actual events and objects with indirectly related happenings. A person forced to live in his car is forced to take all of his possessions with them; uprooted, without the comfort once had of knowing where their belongings belong, and where they will always be. A divorced person is without roots, without confidence and stability. One begins to see themselves no more grounded then an errant shoe, so easily lost. "Wondering what happened, to everyone and everything.." Suddenly nothing is certain, nothing is in its place. You question your values and choices.
He compares a pair of shoes to a married couple; one cannot be independent of the other. He wonders if the lost shoe can find a mate, sounds a bit weird, how likely is that? Perhaps when we got married we too were so; like a pair of shoes, compatible for non other. But now the shoe is on the wrong foot. Irreversible differences render the couple as compatible as two random shoes.

Ginsberg's America

The poem America by Alen Ginsberg is a strange work of art. It can appear as random thoughts jotted down (perhaps even in preparation for a poem) as opposed to an actual poem. He even dates the poem within the poem. Although the rhythm is there -the poem is a chant and a cry- it is perhaps more apparent to the trained eye as rather to my own.
As I read Ginsberg’s poem it seemed as though almost every line was displaying another side of character from a writer with an obvious complex personality. His strong statements are dark and laced with disgust and apathy, yet always coming back/tying in humor and wit.

One thing is certain, the speaker/writer is disenchanted, strongly. He speaks as a member of a sub-society/culture, disconnected from society at large and the reality they choose to see. A period in America’s history that is remembered as a time of growth and optimism.

The Day Lady Died

Some poems are timeless. In Facing It Yusef Komunyakaa uses imagery and references to his a specific time and place, regarding specific people. Yet, years later, I can relate as a civilian. On the other hand, Frank O'Hara's poem is so personal, I feel like an outsider, if not an intruder. He begins with a precise loctaion and time, and proceeds to report in great detail seemingly mundane (yet to him meaningful because of what happened that day) activities. Yet I am lost. What is the significance of his Friday afternoon routine? Who is Lady? How do I relate to all that went through his mind as he saw the everyday things he did through a new light when I don't even know what happened!?